Journal of pain and symptom management
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Relatively few data are available about symptoms among cancer patients. ⋯ Most recently diagnosed lung and colorectal cancer patients have cancer-related symptoms regardless of stage, and more than half have at least one moderate/severe symptom.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialThe role of central and peripheral muscle fatigue in postcancer fatigue: a randomized controlled trial.
Postcancer fatigue is a frequently occurring problem, impairing quality of life. Little is known about (neuro)physiological factors determining postcancer fatigue. It may be hypothesized that postcancer fatigue is characterized by low peripheral muscle fatigue and high central muscle fatigue. ⋯ Postcancer fatigue is neither characterized by abnormally high central muscle fatigue nor by low peripheral muscle fatigue. These findings suggest a difference in the underlying physiological mechanism of postcancer fatigue vs. other fatigue syndromes.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2015
Screening for depression in advanced disease: psychometric properties, sensitivity, and specificity of two items of the Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS).
Depression is common among patients with advanced disease but often difficult to detect. ⋯ POS items 7 and 8 summed are potentially useful to screen for depression in advanced disease populations.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2015
Observational StudyPatterns of use of medical cannabis among Israeli cancer patients: a single institution experience.
The use of the cannabis plant (Cannabis sativa L.) for the palliative treatment of cancer patients has been legalized in multiple jurisdictions including Israel. Yet, not much is currently known regarding the efficacy and patterns of use of cannabis in this setting. ⋯ Cannabis use is perceived as highly effective by some patients with advanced cancer and its administration can be regulated, even by local authorities. Additional studies are required to evaluate the efficacy of cannabis as part of the palliative treatment of cancer patients.
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Palliative medicine must prioritize the routine assessment of the quality of clinical care we provide. This includes regular assessment, analysis, and reporting of data on quality. Assessment of quality informs opportunities for improvement and demonstrates to our peers and ourselves the value of our efforts. ⋯ S. shift from fee-for-service to fee-for-value models, palliative care will be expected to report robust data on quality of care. We must move beyond demonstrating to our constituents (including patients and referrers), "here is what we do," and increase the focus on "this is how well we do it" and "let us see how we can do it better." It is incumbent on palliative care professionals to lead these efforts. This involves developing standardized methods to collect data without adding additional burden, comparing and sharing our experiences to promote discipline-wide quality assessment and improvement initiatives, and demonstrating our intentions for quality improvement on the clinical frontline.